Ideas for 'oiling' wood stables

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ChestnutConvert

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Looking at my stables today i have decided that they need a slick of oil or stain or similar.
However with barn style stables that mounts up to quite a bit of wood and looking at tins of the stuff i would probably need to re mortgage just to treat them
Does anyone have any ideas on cheap way to get the wood either stained or oiled???
 
I think I've heard that oil mixed with diesel is good for staining, protecting fences etc. Not sure how much it would cost though. And not very specific or helpful now I've read that back lol :-s
 
i use neat engine oil which my mechanic gives me stains nice and black and he gives it to me free.

you can mix it with creosote sub as well.:)
 
criosote does take ages to air. i put it on my field shelter and it worked fine but it was put on 8 ish weeks before we put the shelter together and once it was up which was 4 weeks ago it was still making me caugh and now it still smells and thats outside
 
Yes it probably would take a while to air - I usually do my stables in summer when they're out more..

Loving the "good old fashioned creocote" - to me its a new thing, and creosote was the good old fashioned thing that you can't use anymore (and it was so much better!!).

Most garages have to pay to have their old oil taken away, so will gladly give it away. Some farmers use it neat. It does dilute the smell a bit, but makes it darker coloured..
 
I put on several coats this summer, and the smell went a day or two later (apart from my t shirt - which still stunk after three washes and had to be chucked!).
 
Can't beat creosote, just have all windows and doors open for as long as possible and just wear an old jacket or overalls you can throw away if you're fussy; mine gets washed and put away until next year again.
 
We use a mixture of creosote and engine oil (it's not called creosote any more, but Travis Perkins or any DIY firm will know exactly what you mean). Most garages are delighted to give you old engine oil as they have to pay to have it taken away. We mix it 50/50 and it spreads on a treat. We also do the gates and posts and rails with them round the stable yard. It looks really homogenous and also puts the horses off gnawing the rails.

Now isn't the best time of year to be doing it (there's helpful!). If you do it in the summer a) the mix, and the wood are warm and it sinks in better; b) the surface dries quicker, for which your friends and colleagues would thank you profoundly. I haven't done it this year for various reasons, and now feel it may be too late in the season. You shouldn't do it in wet weather as the oil just gets repelled by the rain water.

I would never do the inside of our stables (which are open shelters anyway) just the outside. But it really does work AND looks good. NB They do the 'creosote' in a dark and a light shade. the former ends up brown/black, the latter, which we use, a sort of lichen grey - not a good description but it's very easy on the eye.

One tip, if you have looseboxes, do do the insides of the top half of the box doors, otherwise it looks odd when they're pinned back.
 
If you live in the Yorkshire area we sell some very reasonably priced creosote, and varnishes (we're a timber merchant specialising in outdoor timbers) so pm me if interested.

Am I allowed to post that??? Hope so!? :D :o
 
When we bought our new internal stables they were all treated with used engine oil and I have redone them several times, they look great. All my field shelters are done the same way. need to do them in summer tho so they dry well
 
We buy the good old fashioned creosote (not the substitute you buy from DIY stores) the old stuff is still available but is classed as for 'prefessional use only' as it is a carcinogen (as is used engine oil)

Think we paid £39.95 from local store for 25 litres
 
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